Hubert Lamy - Santenay 1er Cru 'Clos des Gravières' Blanc 2023

Olivier Lamy is one of the rare burgundy producers who seems to be equally good at making red and white wine. He is endlessly experimenting and wants to achieve new heights in grape growing and winemaking. He is fanatic about pruning - where some growers might give up on a certain vine, Olivier will cut out diseased portions and coax a damaged vine back to health. This resurrected vine may only produce a few grapes but those grapes have such intense flavor.

Since 1995 he has been steadily increasing the vine density of his vineyards to 14,000 per hectare (compared to the standard density in Burgundy of 10,000; it's far less in other parts of the world). Some are planted at 4,000- 5,000 per hectare. He studied that before the phylloxera epidemic when vines were not planted in rows that vine densities were much greater - so he planted a section of one Saint Aubin vineyard at a density of 30,000 vines per hectare which puts great stress on the vines and reduces yields increasing flavor intensity, extract and acidity. He serves this wine last in a tasting.

There are no recipes at Chez Lamy - he harvests when the grapes are ripe which might be before or after his neighbors. He uses between 10-30% new oak at most but he may use none. The vineyards are farmed more or less organically but he will spray if he needs to fight mildew or oidium. These are uncompromising wines of coiled power and great tension - red or white.

The lower yields from this parcel result in an annual production of approximately 25 cases. Vine Age: Planted from 1966 to 2011. Aging for an average of 24 months on the lees in 300 and 600 L barrels (mostly used), aged for an additional 6 months in tank, fined and filtered if necessary

Producer: Hubert Lamy

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Varietal: Chardonnay

Appellation: Santenay 1er Cru

Vintage: 2023

Size: 750ml